site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1912 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 25, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I am vaguely aware of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but haven't ever read the source material or a good translation.

Anyone have any suggestions? As I've declaimed and disclamed before, my Chinese is limited to nihao-ing at some fine ABGs. A solid translation, or visual media would be fine. Subs or dubs, don't care. It just has to be faithful to the source

I mean... it's really long, and really old, and really Chinese. It's not something you can just read casually. It's practically a whole field of study in itself.

I grew up playing Koei games like the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" series. If you're... a certain sort of nerd, you'll appreciate them. The downside is, they sort of assume you already know the story, so they can be confusing. But they'll still give you part of the story, and a good appreciation for the overall strategic situation and map.

"Dynasty Warriors" is more story based. It's pretty much nonsense, but it gives a good sense for the myths and legends, which is what most people remember it for anyway.

For a slightly more academic approach, I really enjoyed this blog series: Chinese history for white people. Still very limited and oversimplified, but it's a good read.

Beyond that, I think you just have to read Wikipedia articles about the specific people and battles involved. Or commit yourself to learning Chinese lol. I think it's still lacking in proper English-language material.

Thanks! I had a look at the Substack, and while it's a decent glossary and dramatis personae, I was looking for something less dry. But it's useful context.

Sadly the gameplay of Dynasty Warriors is the opposite of what I'm into. I know Total War Three Kingdoms is solid, but due to severe mismanagement, it barely gets into the actual meat of the Three Kingdoms period.

I'll keep hunting, while I think there's a real chance of a Chinese Century, learning Chinese from scratch sounds rather daunting. I've translated entire Xianxia novels with AI with excellent results, so in theory I could do that if I had to.

Thanks! I had a look at the Substack, and while it's a decent glossary and dramatis personae, I was looking for something less dry. But it's useful context.

Just to clarify that you're looking for the novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義 sanguo yanyi), rather than the actual history, Records of the Three Kingdoms (三國志 sanguozhi)?

I'm aware that the novel takes a few liberties and "romanticizes" historical events, but is still reasonably grounded. I'd honestly be fine with either, though if I had to choose it would be the Romance.

Much of the cultural relevance and memes (in the Dawkinsean sense) from the Three Kingdoms can be found from the Romance, so if getting a background on that is what you're after then the Romance is definitely a better fit, as the culmination of a thousand years of dramatised retellings of the period. You're not going to get things like Zhuge Liang borrowing ten thousand arrows from the actual history.

I'm not sure if there even is an English translation of the Records.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats